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# baltinglass - Sunday 15 August, 2010

THE BROTHER OF convicted rapist Larry Murphy has spoken of his inability to understand how anyone could “carry out a crime like that”.

Speaking on RTÉ Radio One yesterday, Tom Murphy said that he was being ostracised in his home town of Baltinglass, Co Wicklow. Murphy said that people who knew him were turning away from him in the street because he is Larry’s brother.

He emphasised that Larry would not be staying with him following his release from prison three days ago, and said that their family has been destroyed by him. Tom said Larry wouldn’t tell him the truth about what he had done, and had refused to get counselling. He said:

A person who doesn’t want to help themselves, can’t be helped.

Tom Murphy said it was time for the press to allow the woman who was assaulted and raped by Larry Murphy 10 years ago to get on with her life, and that she deserved an apology from her attacker: “That woman deserves those two words: I’m sorry.”

When asked by the presenter, Charlie Bird, if he had ever spoken to his brother about a number of women who remain missing in Ireland, such as Jo Jo Dullard, Tom Murphy said he did ask him, and Larry said he had nothing to do with it and couldn’t believe he would ask that.

He said he could believe his brother didn’t have any connection to the disappearances, adding:

If he is guilty of these crimes, I’d like him to be caught for it and pay the penalty for it.

Your say

ON FRIDAY, THE government announced that Ireland would be re-opening at a faster rate than initially indicated, with the last phase of re-opening now in July rather than August.

For example, the original plans for Phase Two included allowing small retail outlets to open and four people to visit another household for a short period. Now, from Monday, all retail outlets – excluding shopping centres – can open and up to six people can be in another household.

Hotels and pubs would’ve opened in late July and early August under the initial plans, but can now re-open at the end of June. In the case of pubs, they’ll have to sell food to be permitted open on 29 June.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said acceleration of the roadmap “has been made possible because of the considerable sacrifices that you have made to restrict the spread of the virus and protect others”.

“We are making progress. We are heading in the right direction. And we have earned the right to be hopeful about the future again,” he stated.

Dr Tony Holohan said last month that Covid-19 had been effectively extinguished in the community and the number of cases has remained low in recent weeks. However, the public has been advised it’s vital to keep maintaining guidelines around social distancing and hand hygiene into the future.

So, what do you think? Do you think the accelerated plan to re-open Ireland is going at the right pace?

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